Adulthood

The Aug. 17 /PRNewswire/ reported a story about professional golfers using chiropractic on a regular basis. Dr. Tom La Fountain is a chiropractor who travels with the PGA tour and regularly provides chiropractic to the pros. Dr. La Fountain reports that up to 85 percent of the injuries on the PGA Tour and Senior Tour relate to the spine, and about 70 to 75 percent of those golfers receive regular chiropractic care.

As more athletes discover the benefits of chiropractic care not only for injuries but additionally for increased performance, more athletes and teams are using chiropractic to gain an important edge. A recent study published in the March/April 2002 issue of the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, (JMPT) examined the usage of chiropractic care by National Football League teams throughout the US. The Journal article reported on the results of a survey of NFL trainers on their usage and referral to chiropractic care. Participants of the survey were head athletic trainers of the 36 National Football League teams. They were all men, and all had at least 17 years of experience and had served with their present team in their current position for a minimum of 1 year .

A study published in the May 2003 issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research, showed a strong link between the resolution of infertility and the initiation of chiropractic care. The study consisted of a retrospective review of 14 separate articles of 15 women suffering with infertility. In each of these cases chiropractic care was introduced and the results were documented and published. The studies followed 15 female subjects ranging in age from 22 to 65. The prior pregnancy history of these women revealed 11 of them had never gotten pregnant. Two of the women had prior successful unassisted pregnancies. One woman had an assisted pregnancy, while 1 had a history of a miscarriage. In this group 9 women had previous treatment for infertility before starting chiropractic and 4 were actually undergoing infertility treatment when they started chiropractic care.

More people are visiting and paying for their care to go to chiropractors. This from a May 16, 2000 WebMD article reporting on a study published in the Journal of the Geriatric Society. That study of more than 800 patients showed that more than half of people over age 55 seek chiropractic care for mild to moderate complaints, without visiting their primary care provider.

The study conducted through 96 various chiropractic offices in 32 states and two Canadian provinces collected data on 805 eligible patients aged 55 years and older during a 12-week study period.

A research journal, the "Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics" published a study that showed high levels of patient satisfaction for those who went to chiropractors with what was classified as severe to moderate pain in either the back or neck. A total of 369 patients were sampled who had gone to chiropractors with these problems. These individuals were asked to complete surveys tracking all kinds of information from the type and severity of their problem to their level of satisfaction with care.

In the Sept. 19, 2000 /PRNewswire was a report by the American Chiropractic Association on a survey of "Baby Boomers" conducted in the fall of 1999. The survey of baby boomers was conducted by Sorelli B, a national research firm. The survey found that more than one third of those surveyed said chiropractic care prevented the need for prescription drugs and physical therapy. Additionally, many respondents believe chiropractic care had helped them avoid back surgery and hospital stays. The survey results strongly showed many participants desire for chiropractic care when it found that, they are willing to pay for the services out-of-pocket, although they would prefer to have the care covered by their insurance plans. The report also stated that nearly 60 percent of those surveyed said they would be willing to sign a petition asking their insurance companies to include chiropractic as a core component of their health plan.

From the February 2004 issue of the Journal of Chiropractic Pediatrics, comes a documented case study of a 28 year old women who suffered with migraine headaches for over a decade before being helped with chiropractic care. In her case there was no history of previous trauma. Her migraines would last for several days and would cause nausea and dizziness.

In addition to her headaches, she also revealed a history of an irregular menstrual cycle, she would normally menstruate no more than twice per year. This problem resulted in infertility. After years of not becoming pregnant, she sought help from a reproductive endocrinologist. She was placed on medication which created additional side effects but did allow her to become pregnant. Unfortunately, after 9 weeks she suffered a miscarriage.

Evidence reports recently released by the Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research (FCER) show the effectiveness of chiropractic care for sufferers of Tension Headaches. The story released February of 2001, was the continuation of a release of a study done at Duke University several years earlier. In the study many different types of physical and behavioral treatments were used for patients with headaches. Chiropractic care was specifically compared to amitriptyline, a common medication used for headaches. In this study the staff at the Duke Center screened articles from the literature, created evidence tables, and analyzed the quality and magnitude of results from these studies. They then drafted an evidence report with peer review from a panel of 25 reviewers, including researchers and clinicians in chiropractic.

In the September 2001 issue of the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics was a report on the effectiveness of chiropractic care, specifically labeled "SMT" in the study, for patients with chronic headaches. The data for this report was gathered from nine trials involving 683 patients with chronic headache.

In this study chiropractic adjustments (termed SMT in the study) were compared to massage and medications for short term relief of up to six weeks after a month of care. The question of long term health benefits was not addressed. Results showed that the chiropractic group did better than the massage group. The group that received medication also showed relief however, the rate of side effects for the medication group was considerably higher than the chiropractic group. This difference gave a decidedly large advantage to chiropractic over the medication.

According to the American Chiropractic Association 14% of the public who see chiropractors presently go for headaches. For these patients the good news has gotten even better. Researchers at Northwestern College of Chiropractic in Minnesota, compared chiropractic care to certain drug therapies used for tension and migraine headaches.